Qajaq: One of 5,000 new words added to official Scrabble dictionary with vlog, bromance, selfie, dubstep and hashtag

eing stuck with the letter ‘q’ without an accompanying ‘u’ is a regular problem for Scrabble players.

But there is a new addition to help the board game’s fanatics succeed in this situation - with 'qajaq' among 5,000 words added to The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, due out next month.

Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor at large for publisher Merriam-Webster in Springfield, Massachusetts, said this was one of his favourites among the new words.

Qajaq, he said in a recent interview, reflects the Inuit roots of kayak and would require a blank tile since Scrabble sets include just one Q. But it's a rare word starting with 'q' that doesn't require a 'u'.

Fans are excited about a new set of two letter words in the dictionary's first update in a decade, while the rest of us can enjoy spelling out texter, vlog, bromance, hashtag, dubstep and selfie.